Dental Patient Coordinator

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SEARHC is a non-profit health consortium that serves the health interests of the residents of Southeast Alaska. We see our employees as our strongest assets. It is our priority to further their development and our organization by aiding in their professional advancement.

Working at SEARHC is more than a job: It’s a fulfilling career. We offer generous benefits including retirement, paid time off, paid parental leave, health/dental/vision benefits, life insurance, long-/short-term disability, and more.

This position is the first line of customer service and access to the dental clinic by greeting patients and family members in a professional and courteous manner, obtaining, and verifying demographic, financial, and insurance information during the registration process, accepting and posting point of service payments or providing guidance for payment options, and clearing the patient for service delivery.

Schedule Accountabilities

• Responsible for filling and maintaining multi-provider (Dentist, Hygiene, DHAT) schedules.
• Maintains and creates specialty clinic schedules.
• Maintains patient scheduling.
• Directs phone calls to appropriate care provider.  Maintains voicemail system with proper delegation of patient needs/tasks.
• Follows SEARHC Dental guidelines of reminder systems, utilizing patient reminder software.

Financial Accountabilities

• Answers patient billing questions and takes necessary action to resolve accounts.
• Recommends accounts for placement with bad debt agencies or charity write-off.
• Responsible for coordination of benefits.
• Performs insurance eligibility/benefit verification and documents information within the patient accounting system. 
• Receives and posts payments to patients’ accounts at check-in.
• Posts all cash, credit, checks, and electronically transferred funds to beneficiary and non-beneficiary accounts within 3 business days of cash deposit or escalates non-postable deposits for resolution.
• Creates treatment estimates for patients and reviews with patient prior to rendering service.
• Applies first level patient discounts including prompt pay discount.
• Calculates, reviews, and follows up on payment plans for patients.
• Refers patients to Benefit Specialist as appropriate and collaborates with financial counselors to identify alternative funding sources for patients.
• Generates Service Authorization for Medicaid and Veterans Affairs.
• Balances clinic financials daily, including transactions posted to source system and daily batch deposits.

Administrative Accountabilities

• Provides primary receptionist services including receiving and directing incoming calls and provides assistance /information to callers.
• Distributes and collects patient registration paperwork, ensuring all demographic and insurance information is communicated and properly entered.
• Accepts medical authorization or referral forms, if appropriate, and manages patient referrals to outside agencies.

Other Functions

• Other duties as assigned.

Education, Certifications, and Licenses Required

• High school diploma or equivalent
• Basic Life Support (BLS) certification

Experience Required

• 1-2 years of office/business experience or customer service experience
• 3 years of experience in a healthcare or dental setting or equivalent with 2 years progressively responsible experience in customer service is preferred

Knowledge of

• General office functions and office equipment
• Electronic Health Record
• Registration, insurance, and billing requirements

Skills in

• Problem solving and decision making
• Excellent interpersonal, verbal, and written communication
• Strong time management, organizational, and customer service skills

Ability to

• Prioritize work in a fast-paced environment with many interruptions
• Work independently
• Read comprehend, and write simple instructions, short correspondence, and memos
• Work flexible hours with limited unplanned absence
• Learn new concepts and adapt to changing regulatory/payor billing and follow-up rules
• Work in a team setting and collaborate within cross-functional teams.